Mechanism for Facilitating Management of Data in an On-Demand Services Enviroment

ABSTRACT

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment. In one embodiment and by way of example, a method for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment is provided. The method of embodiment includes detecting an attempt by a user to manipulate data via a collaboration application at a computing system, wherein the attempt includes attempted deletion of the data posted for viewing using the collaboration application. The method may further include determining whether the user is authorized to manipulate the data, and blocking the attempt if the user is not authorized to manipulate the data.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/507,268, entitled “Methods and Systems for Preventing the Deletion of Data in an On-Demand Services Environment” by Marcus Ericsson, filed Jul. 13, 2011 (Attorney Docket No. 8956P059Z), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and priority is claimed thereof.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

One or more implementations relate generally to data management and, more specifically, to a mechanism for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment.

BACKGROUND

Most organizations (e.g., companies, charitable organizations, government organizations, accounting or legal firms, hospitals, small businesses, etc.) have to deal with compliance or securities issues at some or another. For example, several organizations are increasingly employing collaboration software applications (e.g., SharePoint® by Microsoft®, Yammer®, etc.) for providing in-organization real-time collaboration (e.g., conversations, user or group followings, receiving/transmitting project updates, customer status, group messaging, etc.) between users (e.g., organization's employees, contractors, interns, visitors, etc.). The use of such a collaboration application at an organization could often lead to employees posting sensitive posts or messages which may not be deleted for any number of reasons, such as legal reasons (e.g., evidentiary reasons), security purposes, back-up, etc. Conventional collaboration applications or software solutions do not provide the necessary security for the organization to properly control employee-placed posts, messages, etc.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.

In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in one logical database. A user of such a conventional system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the system using the user's own systems. A user system might remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that might in turn access the database system. Data retrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from the user system to the database system. The database system might process the request for information received in the query and send to the user system information relevant to the request. The secure and efficient retrieval of accurate information and subsequent delivery of this information to the user system has been and continues to be a goal of administrators of database systems.

Unfortunately, conventional database approaches might be accessible to unauthorized persons if, for example, any user, as an unauthorized person, is able to delete relevant information that is to be preserved by the organization.

SUMMARY

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment. In one embodiment and by way of example, a method for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment is provided. The method of embodiment includes detecting an attempt by a user to manipulate data via a collaboration application at a computing system, wherein the attempt includes attempted deletion of the data posted for viewing using the collaboration application. The method may further include determining whether the user is authorized to manipulate the data, and blocking the attempt if the user is not authorized to manipulate the data.

While the present invention is described with reference to an embodiment in which techniques for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment are implemented in a system having an application server providing a front end for an on-demand database service capable of supporting multiple tenants, the present invention is not limited to multi-tenant databases nor deployment on application servers. Embodiments may be practiced using other database architectures, i.e., ORACLE®, DB2® by IBM and the like without departing from the scope of the embodiments claimed.

Any of the above embodiments may be used alone or together with one another in any combination. Inventions encompassed within this specification may also include embodiments that are only partially mentioned or alluded to or are not mentioned or alluded to at all in this brief summary or in the abstract. Although various embodiments of the invention may have been motivated by various deficiencies with the prior art, which may be discussed or alluded to in one or more places in the specification, the embodiments of the invention do not necessarily address any of these deficiencies. In other words, different embodiments of the invention may address different deficiencies that may be discussed in the specification. Some embodiments may only partially address some deficiencies or just one deficiency that may be discussed in the specification, and some embodiments may not address any of these deficiencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings like reference numbers are used to refer to like elements. Although the following figures depict various examples, one or more implementations are not limited to the examples depicted in the figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing system employing data management mechanism according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates data management mechanism according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2B illustrates a network of computing devices using collaboration applications as facilitated by data management mechanism according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for facilitating management of data in an on-demand services environment according to one embodiment;

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate screenshots representing various processes for facilitating management of collaboration application-based data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an environment wherein an on-demand database service might be used according to one embodiment; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of elements of environment of FIG. 6 and various possible interconnections between these elements according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods and systems are provided for facilitating_management of data in an on-demand service environment. A method of embodiments includes detecting an attempt by a user to manipulate data via a collaboration application at a computing system, wherein the attempt includes attempted deletion of the data posted for viewing using the collaboration application. The method may further include determining whether the user is authorized to manipulate the data, and blocking the attempt if the user is not authorized to manipulate the data.

As used herein, a term multi-tenant database system refers to those systems in which various elements of hardware and software of the database system may be shared by one or more customers. For example, a given application server may simultaneously process requests for a great number of customers, and a given database table may store rows for a potentially much greater number of customers. As used herein, the term query plan refers to a set of steps used to access information in a database system.

Next, mechanisms and methods for providing management of data in an on-demand service environment will be described with reference to example embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing system employing data management mechanism according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, a computing device 100 serves as a host machine hosting data management mechanism 110 to facilitate management of data, such as data deletion, in an on-demand services environment. Computing device 100 may include mobile computing devices, such as cellular phones including smartphones (e.g., iPhone®, BlackBerry®, etc.), handheld computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., tablet computers (e.g., iPad®, Samsung® Galaxy Tab®, etc.), laptop computers (e.g., notebooks, netbooks, etc.), e-readers (e.g., Kindle®, Nook®, etc.), etc. Computing device 100 may further include set-top boxes (e.g., Internet-based cable television set-top boxes, etc.), and larger computing devices, such as desktop computers, server computers, cluster-based computers, etc.

Computing device 100 includes an operating system 106 serving as an interface between any hardware or physical resources of the computer device 100 and a user. Computing device 100 further includes one or more processors 102, memory devices 104, network devices, drivers, or the like, as well as input/output sources 108, such as touchscreens, touch panels, touch pads, virtual or regular keyboards, virtual or regular mice, etc. It is to be noted that terms like “node”, “computing node”, “client”, “server”, “machine”, “device”, “computing device”, “computer”, “computing system”, and the like, are used interchangeably and synonymously throughout this document.

FIG. 2A illustrates data management mechanism according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, data management mechanism 110 includes various components 202, 204, 206, 208, and 210 to offer a number of services to facilitate management of data (e.g., data deletion) in an on-demand services environment. For example and in one embodiment, any data posted or communicated through a collaboration application may be managed using the DATA MANAGEMENT mechanism 110. A collaboration application (e.g., Chatter® by Salesforce®, SharePoint, Yammer, and the like) may be employed by an organization (e.g., a company, a charitable organization, a government organization, an accounting firm, a legal firm, a hospital, a small business, etc.) to provide internal within organization real-time collaboration (e.g., conversations, user or group followings, receiving/transmitting project updates, customer status, group messaging, etc.) between users, such as the organization's owners, employees, members, contractors, interns, visitors, participants, etc. Any data posted or communicated through a collaboration application may include any type or form of data, such as messages, emails, texts, posts, blogs, announcements, pictures, presentations, etc.

Using the collaboration application, any employee of the organization may be able to post on the board or communicated (e.g., transmit or receive) with any number of other employees any type of data (e.g., messages) that may be sensitive in nature and may be preferred or required by the organization that they be protected, such as prevented from being deleted. For example, a message posted by a user may have legal or financial consequences and thus, once posted may not be allowed from being deleted. Since not all data is equal, certain individuals within the organization may have a higher privilege or authorization with regard to deletion of data versus the rest of the employees at the organization. For example, a legal counsel may have far greater authority over which emails or posts to delete versus a receptionist as the legal counsel is regarded as someone having the necessary legal knowledge to determine whether, for example, an email may be sensitive in nature and ought to be deleted or not. Similarly, certain position holders (e.g., Central Executive Officer (CEO), Central Financial Officer (CFO), Central Technology Officer (CTO), vice presidents, department heads, system administrator, director or manager of information technology (“IT”), software developers, etc.) may have higher or different authority to delete certain data placed through, for example, a collaboration application than other employees or personnel or contractors of the organization. Although various position holders may have different levels of data control privileges, in one embodiment, the highest data control privileges may be placed with the IT director or system administrator, etc., given their technological expertise, etc.

In one embodiment, a privilege setting unit 202 may be used to grant a user a certain level of authority to delete certain data being posted or communicated through a collaboration application. For example, as aforementioned, a general counsel may have a high level 5 authority providing greater privilege and flexibility in deleting data, while a receptionist may have a level 1 authority having much lower (up to zero) privilege and flexibility to delete the collaboration application-based data. Other position holders, such as accounts, salespeople, manager, directors, vice presidents, CFO, CEO, CTO, etc., may be given various appropriate levels of data control privilege and flexibility.

Data management mechanism 110 further provides an attempt detector 204 to detect each attempt by a user at deleting a piece of data (e.g., text, message, email, blog, announcement, pictures, presentations, etc.) posted or communicated using, for example, a collaboration application (e.g., Chatter). Once the attempt is detected, an authentication module 206 authenticates the user's authority against the privilege granted by the privilege setting unit 202. For example, if an accountant of a company holds the privilege to delete an accounting spreadsheet posted by him to be viewed by other accounts, the accountant will be allowed to delete that spreadsheet. However, if the same account posts a note that can be regarded as sensitive (e.g., legally sensitivity due to the nature of the note, such as revealing possible sexual harassment), the accountant may not be granted the authority to delete that note. In one embodiment, the accountant may not be able to delete any collaboration application-based data, regardless of the nature of the data.

If the user is not given privilege to delete any data or certain data (e.g., the accountant not having the privilege to delete the sensitive note), the user's attempt is blocked via a block module 208. For example, the user may receive a note block stating, for example, the data cannot be deleted or that the data control privilege is disabled or not granted, or the like. This way, the deletion of the sensitive data is prevented. In one embodiment, if the user makes multiple attempts (e.g., more than three attempts), a notification or report of these multiple attempts may be sent to the system administrator so that an appropriate action may be taken (e.g., the system administrator may approach the user or the user's supervisor, etc.) based on the sensitivity of the data and/or the frequency of attempts to delete the data. If, however, the user is allowed to delete a particular piece of data, a confirmation module 210 may display a confirmation choice block for the user to confirm proceeding with completing the transaction to delete the piece of data or choose to cancel the transaction.

Further, in one embodiment, a number of overrides may be added, such as for individual users, specific profiles of individuals or groups, the entire organization, etc. For example, an apex trigger may be added to the feed post delete or feed comment delete as the apex trigger may then check to see if any rules or privileges have been set in the chatter delete settings as created by privilege setting unit 202. If there are rules or privileges, the apex trigger abides by them. If, however, no rules or privileges have been set, the apex trigger may allow the default collaboration application rules or setting to stay in place. The default collaboration application settings may depend on the rules set by the maker of the collaboration application or as set by the system administrator at the organization. For example, the default settings may include first settings where mostly or all users are allowed to delete their feed posts and comments, or second settings that include organization-based settings, such as the system administrator may hold all the right and privileges for deleting feed posts and comments. The apex trigger may be facilitated by, for example, the authentication, block and confirmation modules 206, 208, 210 to perform the various aforementioned processes.

It is contemplated that any number and type of components may be added to and removed from data management mechanism 110 to facilitate its workings and operability in facilitating management of data (e.g., data deletion) posted via collaboration applications. For brevity, clarity, ease of understanding and to focus on the data management mechanism 110, many of the conventional or known components of a computing device are not shown or discussed here.

FIG. 2B illustrates a network of computing devices using collaboration applications as facilitated by data management mechanism according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, computing device 100 employs data management mechanism 110 and remains in communication with various computing devices 220, 230, 240 being used by various users. Continuing with the previous example, user may be employees of an organization communicating with each other using a collaboration application 260A, 260B, 260C at their respective computing devices 220, 230, 240. As illustrated the computing devices 220, 230, 240 may be in communication with the computing device 100 over a network 250 (e.g., cloud computing, Internet, intranet, Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless LAN (WLAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), etc.).

In one embodiment, data management mechanism 110 may be employed at the computing device 100 serving as a central or host computing device or server, but certain components or all of the data management mechanism 110 may be employed at one or more of the user computing devices 220, 230, 240. The centrally employed data management mechanism 110 may be used to monitor and manage the data being posted or communicated in any manner between the users using the collaboration application 260A, 260B, 260C. For example, a user at computing device 220 posts a message using collaboration application 260A for other users to view, but when the user at computing device 220 (or any of the other users, such as those using the collaboration application 260B, 260C at computing devices 230, 240) attempts to delete the post, they may not be able to do so. As aforementioned, a user (depending on the user profile and the data control privilege level granted to the user by the privilege setting unit 202 of FIG. 2) may be allowed to delete certain posts or message buy may not be allowed to delete other as determined and executed by the data management mechanism 110 at computing device 100 over the network 250.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 for facilitating management of data using a collaboration application in an on-demand services environment according to one embodiment. Method 300 may be performed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (such as instructions run on a processing device), or a combination thereof, such as firmware or functional circuitry within hardware devices. In one embodiment, method 300 is performed by the data management mechanism 110 of FIGS. 1.

Method 300 begins at block 305 with setting up user profiles to assign data control privileges to users of an organization using collaboration applications. In one embodiment, these profiles may be set and the data control privileges may be assigned automatically using the privileged setting unit of data management mechanism 110. For example, a new or promoted or demoted user's (e.g., employee of the organization) information, including the user's position (e.g., accountant) with the organization, may be fed into an organization database and such information can then be automatically detected and upon detection of such information, a user profile for the purposes of data privileges is set and appropriate data privileges are assigned to the user. For example, when a user is promoted from being an accountant to accounting manager, the user's profile is automatically changed and accordingly, appropriate changes are made to the user's data privileges, such as now having greater authority to delete posts or messages placed by the user using a collaboration application (e.g., Chatter, etc.). It is contemplated that a system administrator of the organization may have access to user information and can manipulate such information, such as the user profile or data control privileges, as desired or necessitated.

At block 310, user attempts to manipulate data (e.g., an attempt to delete messages posted or communicated by users using collaboration applications) are detected using the attempt detector of data management mechanism. Upon detection, the authentication module of data management mechanism may authenticate or verify these data manipulation attempts by checking the user credentials (including data control privileges) against the user information at the database at block 315. At block 320, a determination is made as to whether the user is authorized to manipulate the data as attempted. If the user is authorized, at block 325, the user is allowed to proceed with the manipulation, such as deleting a collaboration application-based post by the user. At block 330, if the user is determined to be not authorized, the user's attempt to manipulate the data is blocked using the block module. At block 335, subsequent to the block, an error message or note is displayed for the user to notify the user of the block. It is contemplated that a display device may be used to display the error message as well as the collaboration application, and the like.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate screenshots representing various processes for facilitating management of collaboration application-based data according to one embodiment. FIG. 4A illustrates a screenshot 400 representing a user 402 attempting to delete a post 404 by clicking on an x-like character 406. The post is placed by the user 402 using a collaboration application, such as the illustrated Chatter.

FIG. 4B illustrates a screenshot 420 showing an error message 422 notifying that the user 402 cannot delete the post attempted in screenshot 400 of FIG. 4A because the user does not have the authority or privilege level to delete this or other posts. As illustrated, the error message 422 further provides an optional choice 426 to the user to prevent the page from creating additional dialogs as well as an okay button 424 to remove the message 422 and continue with other tasks.

FIG. 4C illustrates a screenshot 440 that provides the user a choice block 442 to either choose to delete the post that the user 402 initiated by clicking the x-like character 406 or cancel the delete transaction. The user 402 may choose to continue with the delete transaction by clicking the okay button 444 or cancel the delete transaction by clicking on the cancel button 446. In one embodiment, this block 442 is displayed to the user 402 when the user 402 (or the user profile) is determined as having the necessary authorization or privilege level to proceed with the delete transaction to delete the data post.

FIG. 4D illustrates a screenshot 460 representing a data setting page that can be used by a system or IT administrator at an organization to assign, amend, or remove user data control privileges. For example, as illustrated, the system administrator may choose a particular profile from the profile drop down menu 462 to assign a particular user profile to the user in accordance with the user's position (e.g., attorney, CFO, software developer, reception, accountant, salesperson, etc.) with the organization. The system administrator may also choose to type in the user position in the typing area 464, such as by privilege level (e.g., free user, level one user, manager-level user, top level user, etc.) or by one of the aforementioned position (e.g., manager, accountant, etc.) to assign data control privileges to the user and can confirm that by clicking the save button 468 or cancel the transaction by clicking the cancel button 470. The same illustrated delete setting technique may be used by the system administrator to amend or remove the data control privileges, such as when a user gets promoted or demoted or moves department, or leaves the organization.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine 500 in the exemplary form of a computer system, in accordance with one embodiment, within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine 500 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. Machine 500 is the same as or similar to computing system 100 of FIG. 1 and/or computing devices 220, 230, 240 of FIG. 2B. In alternative embodiments, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a Local Area Network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment or as a server or series of servers within an on-demand service environment, including an on-demand environment providing multi-tenant database storage services. Certain embodiments of the machine may be in the form of a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a server, a network router, switch or bridge, computing system, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines (e.g., computers) that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The exemplary computer system 500 includes a processor 502, a main memory 504 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc., static memory such as flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), volatile but high-data rate RAM, etc.), and a secondary memory 518 (e.g., a persistent storage device including hard disk drives and persistent multi-tenant data base implementations), which communicate with each other via a bus 530. Main memory 504 includes emitted execution data 524 (e.g., data emitted by a logging framework) and one or more trace preferences 523 which operate in conjunction with processing logic 526 and processor 502 to perform the methodologies discussed herein.

Processor 502 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processor 502 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, processor implementing other instruction sets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 502 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like. Processor 502 is configured to execute the processing logic 526 for performing the operations and functionality of data management mechanism 110 as described with reference to FIG. 1 and other figures discussed herein.

The computer system 500 may further include a network interface card 508. The computer system 500 also may include a user interface 510 (such as a video display unit, a liquid crystal display (LCD), or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device 516 (e.g., an integrated speaker). The computer system 500 may further include peripheral device 536 (e.g., wireless or wired communication devices, memory devices, storage devices, audio processing devices, video processing devices, etc. The computer system 500 may further include a Hardware based API logging framework 534 capable of executing incoming requests for services and emitting execution data responsive to the fulfillment of such incoming requests.

The secondary memory 518 may include a machine-readable storage medium (or more specifically a machine-accessible storage medium) 531 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 522) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions of data management mechanism 110 as described with reference to FIG. 1 and other figures described herein. The software 522 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 504 and/or within the processor 502 during execution thereof by the computer system 500, the main memory 504 and the processor 502 also constituting machine-readable storage media. The software 522 may further be transmitted or received over a network 520 via the network interface card 508. The machine-readable storage medium 531 may include transitory or non-transitory machine-readable storage media.

Portions of various embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer program instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the embodiments of the present invention. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), and magneto-optical disks, ROM, RAM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnet or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

The techniques shown in the figures can be implemented using code and data stored and executed on one or more electronic devices (e.g., an end station, a network element). Such electronic devices store and communicate (internally and/or with other electronic devices over a network) code and data using computer-readable media, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., magnetic disks; optical disks; random access memory; read only memory; flash memory devices; phase-change memory) and transitory computer -readable transmission media (e.g., electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals—such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals). In addition, such electronic devices typically include a set of one or more processors coupled to one or more other components, such as one or more storage devices (non-transitory machine-readable storage media), user input/output devices (e.g., a keyboard, a touchscreen, and/or a display), and network connections. The coupling of the set of processors and other components is typically through one or more busses and bridges (also termed as bus controllers). Thus, the storage device of a given electronic device typically stores code and/or data for execution on the set of one or more processors of that electronic device. Of course, one or more parts of an embodiment of the invention may be implemented using different combinations of software, firmware, and/or hardware.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an environment 610 wherein an on-demand database service might be used. Environment 610 may include user systems 612, network 614, system 616, processor system 617, application platform 618, network interface 620, tenant data storage 622, system data storage 624, program code 626, and process space 628. In other embodiments, environment 610 may not have all of the components listed and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above.

Environment 610 is an environment in which an on-demand database service exists. User system 612 may be any machine or system that is used by a user to access a database user system. For example, any of user systems 612 can be a handheld computing device, a mobile phone, a laptop computer, a work station, and/or a network of computing devices. As illustrated in herein FIG. 6 (and in more detail in FIG. 7) user systems 612 might interact via a network 614 with an on-demand database service, which is system 616.

An on-demand database service, such as system 616, is a database system that is made available to outside users that do not need to necessarily be concerned with building and/or maintaining the database system, but instead may be available for their use when the users need the database system (e.g., on the demand of the users). Some on-demand database services may store information from one or more tenants stored into tables of a common database image to form a multi-tenant database system (MTS). Accordingly, “on-demand database service 616” and “system 616” will be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one or more database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) or the equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information against the database object(s). Application platform 618 may be a framework that allows the applications of system 616 to run, such as the hardware and/or software, e.g., the operating system. In an embodiment, on-demand database service 616 may include an application platform 618 that enables creation, managing and executing one or more applications developed by the provider of the on-demand database service, users accessing the on-demand database service via user systems 612, or third party application developers accessing the on-demand database service via user systems 612.

The users of user systems 612 may differ in their respective capacities, and the capacity of a particular user system 612 might be entirely determined by permissions (permission levels) for the current user. For example, where a salesperson is using a particular user system 612 to interact with system 616, that user system has the capacities allotted to that salesperson. However, while an administrator is using that user system to interact with system 616, that user system has the capacities allotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical role model, users at one permission level may have access to applications, data, and database information accessible by a lower permission level user, but may not have access to certain applications, database information, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level. Thus, different users will have different capabilities with regard to accessing and modifying application and database information, depending on a user's security or permission level.

Network 614 is any network or combination of networks of devices that communicate with one another. For example, network 614 can be any one or any combination of a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network), telephone network, wireless network, point-to-point network, star network, token ring network, hub network, or other appropriate configuration. As the most common type of computer network in current use is a TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol) network, such as the global internetwork of networks often referred to as the “Internet” with a capital “I,” that network will be used in many of the examples herein. However, it should be understood that the networks that one or more implementations might use are not so limited, although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol.

User systems 612 might communicate with system 616 using TCP/IP and, at a higher network level, use other common Internet protocols to communicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTP is used, user system 612 might include an HTTP client commonly referred to as a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from an HTTP server at system 616. Such an HTTP server might be implemented as the sole network interface between system 616 and network 614, but other techniques might be used as well or instead. In some implementations, the interface between system 616 and network 614 includes load sharing functionality, such as round-robin HTTP request distributors to balance loads and distribute incoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality of servers. At least as for the users that are accessing that server, each of the plurality of servers has access to the MTS' data; however, other alternative configurations may be used instead.

In one embodiment, system 616, shown in FIG. 6, implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, system 616 includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from user systems 612 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, system 616 implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, system 616 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 618, which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system 616.

One arrangement for elements of system 616 is shown in FIG. 6, including a network interface 620, application platform 618, tenant data storage 622 for tenant data 623, system data storage 624 for system data 625 accessible to system 616 and possibly multiple tenants, program code 626 for implementing various functions of system 616, and a process space 628 for executing MTS system processes and tenant-specific processes, such as running applications as part of an application hosting service. Additional processes that may execute on system 616 include database indexing processes.

Several elements in the system shown in FIG. 6 include conventional, well-known elements that are explained only briefly here. For example, each user system 612 could include a desktop personal computer, workstation, laptop, PDA, cell phone, or any wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled device or any other computing device capable of interfacing directly or indirectly to the Internet or other network connection. User system 612 typically runs an HTTP client, e.g., a browsing program, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, Netscape's Navigator browser, Opera's browser, or a WAP-enabled browser in the case of a cell phone, PDA or other wireless device, or the like, allowing a user (e.g., subscriber of the multi-tenant database system) of user system 612 to access, process and view information, pages and applications available to it from system 616 over network 614. Each user system 612 also typically includes one or more user interface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, trackball, touch pad, touch screen, pen or the like, for interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) provided by the browser on a display (e.g., a monitor screen, LCD display, etc.) in conjunction with pages, forms, applications and other information provided by system 616 or other systems or servers. For example, the user interface device can be used to access data and applications hosted by system 616, and to perform searches on stored data, and otherwise allow a user to interact with various GUI pages that may be presented to a user. As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with the Internet, which refers to a specific global internetwork of networks. However, it should be understood that other networks can be used instead of the Internet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like.

According to one embodiment, each user system 612 and all of its components are operator configurable using applications, such as a browser, including computer code run using a central processing unit such as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, system 616 (and additional instances of an MTS, where more than one is present) and all of their components might be operator configurable using application(s) including computer code to run using a central processing unit such as processor system 617, which may include an Intel Pentium® processor or the like, and/or multiple processor units. A computer program product embodiment includes a machine-readable storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the processes of the embodiments described herein. Computer code for operating and configuring system 616 to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other data and media content as described herein are preferably downloaded and stored on a hard disk, but the entire program code, or portions thereof, may also be stored in any other volatile or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known, such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storing program code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks, optical discs, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disk (CD), microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data. Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may be transmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmission medium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is well known, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection as is well known (e.g., extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communication medium and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as are well known. It will also be appreciated that computer code for implementing embodiments can be implemented in any programming language that can be executed on a client system and/or server or server system such as, for example, C, C++, HTML, any other markup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scripting language, such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as are well known may be used. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.).

According to one embodiment, each system 616 is configured to provide webpages, forms, applications, data and media content to user (client) systems 612 to support the access by user systems 612 as tenants of system 616. As such, system 616 provides security mechanisms to keep each tenant's data separate unless the data is shared. If more than one MTS is used, they may be located in close proximity to one another (e.g., in a server farm located in a single building or campus), or they may be distributed at locations remote from one another (e.g., one or more servers located in city A and one or more servers located in city B). As used herein, each MTS could include one or more logically and/or physically connected servers distributed locally or across one or more geographic locations. Additionally, the term “server” is meant to include a computer system, including processing hardware and process space(s), and an associated storage system and database application (e.g., OODBMS or RDBMS) as is well known in the art. It should also be understood that “server system” and “server” are often used interchangeably herein. Similarly, the database object described herein can be implemented as single databases, a distributed database, a collection of distributed databases, a database with redundant online or offline backups or other redundancies, etc., and might include a distributed database or storage network and associated processing intelligence.

FIG. 7 also illustrates environment 610. However, in FIG. 7 elements of system 616 and various interconnections in an embodiment are further illustrated. FIG. 7 shows that user system 612 may include processor system 612A, memory system 612B, input system 612C, and output system 612D. FIG. 7 shows network 614 and system 616. FIG. 7 also shows that system 616 may include tenant data storage 622, tenant data 623, system data storage 624, system data 625, User Interface (UI) 730, Application Program Interface (API) 732, PL/SOQL 734, save routines 736, application setup mechanism 738, applications servers 700 ₁-700 _(N), system process space 702, tenant process spaces 704, tenant management process space 710, tenant storage area 712, user storage 714, and application metadata 716. In other embodiments, environment 610 may not have the same elements as those listed above and/or may have other elements instead of, or in addition to, those listed above.

User system 612, network 614, system 616, tenant data storage 622, and system data storage 624 were discussed above in FIG. 6. Regarding user system 612, processor system 612A may be any combination of one or more processors. Memory system 612B may be any combination of one or more memory devices, short term, and/or long term memory. Input system 612C may be any combination of input devices, such as one or more keyboards, mice, trackballs, scanners, cameras, and/or interfaces to networks. Output system 612D may be any combination of output devices, such as one or more monitors, printers, and/or interfaces to networks. As shown by FIG. 7, system 616 may include a network interface 620 (of FIG. 6) implemented as a set of HTTP application servers 700, an application platform 618, tenant data storage 622, and system data storage 624. Also shown is system process space 702, including individual tenant process spaces 704 and a tenant management process space 710. Each application server 700 may be configured to tenant data storage 622 and the tenant data 623 therein, and system data storage 624 and the system data 625 therein to serve requests of user systems 612. The tenant data 623 might be divided into individual tenant storage areas 712, which can be either a physical arrangement and/or a logical arrangement of data. Within each tenant storage area 712, user storage 714 and application metadata 716 might be similarly allocated for each user. For example, a copy of a user's most recently used (MRU) items might be stored to user storage 714. Similarly, a copy of MRU items for an entire organization that is a tenant might be stored to tenant storage area 712. A UI 730 provides a user interface and an API 732 provides an application programmer interface to system 616 resident processes to users and/or developers at user systems 612. The tenant data and the system data may be stored in various databases, such as one or more Oracle™ databases.

Application platform 618 includes an application setup mechanism 738 that supports application developers' creation and management of applications, which may be saved as metadata into tenant data storage 622 by save routines 736 for execution by subscribers as one or more tenant process spaces 704 managed by tenant management process 710 for example. Invocations to such applications may be coded using PL/SOQL 734 that provides a programming language style interface extension to API 732. A detailed description of some PL/SOQL language embodiments is discussed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,478 entitled, “Method and System for Allowing Access to Developed Applicants via a Multi-Tenant Database On-Demand Database Service”, issued Jun. 1, 2010 to Craig Weissman, which is incorporated in its entirety herein for all purposes. Invocations to applications may be detected by one or more system processes, which manage retrieving application metadata 716 for the subscriber making the invocation and executing the metadata as an application in a virtual machine.

Each application server 700 may be communicably coupled to database systems, e.g., having access to system data 625 and tenant data 623, via a different network connection. For example, one application server 700 ₁ might be coupled via the network 614 (e.g., the Internet), another application server 700 _(N-1) might be coupled via a direct network link, and another application server 700 _(N) might be coupled by yet a different network connection. Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are typical protocols for communicating between application servers 700 and the database system. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that other transport protocols may be used to optimize the system depending on the network interconnect used.

In certain embodiments, each application server 700 is configured to handle requests for any user associated with any organization that is a tenant. Because it is desirable to be able to add and remove application servers from the server pool at any time for any reason, there is preferably no server affinity for a user and/or organization to a specific application server 700. In one embodiment, therefore, an interface system implementing a load balancing function (e.g., an F5 Big-IP load balancer) is communicably coupled between the application servers 700 and the user systems 612 to distribute requests to the application servers 700. In one embodiment, the load balancer uses a least connections algorithm to route user requests to the application servers 700. Other examples of load balancing algorithms, such as round robin and observed response time, also can be used. For example, in certain embodiments, three consecutive requests from the same user could hit three different application servers 700, and three requests from different users could hit the same application server 700. In this manner, system 616 is multi-tenant, wherein system 616 handles storage of, and access to, different objects, data and applications across disparate users and organizations.

As an example of storage, one tenant might be a company that employs a sales force where each salesperson uses system 616 to manage their sales process. Thus, a user might maintain contact data, leads data, customer follow-up data, performance data, goals and progress data, etc., all applicable to that user's personal sales process (e.g., in tenant data storage 622). In an example of a MTS arrangement, since all of the data and the applications to access, view, modify, report, transmit, calculate, etc., can be maintained and accessed by a user system having nothing more than network access, the user can manage his or her sales efforts and cycles from any of many different user systems. For example, if a salesperson is visiting a customer and the customer has Internet access in their lobby, the salesperson can obtain critical updates as to that customer while waiting for the customer to arrive in the lobby.

While each user's data might be separate from other users' data regardless of the employers of each user, some data might be organization-wide data shared or accessible by a plurality of users or all of the users for a given organization that is a tenant. Thus, there might be some data structures managed by system 616 that are allocated at the tenant level while other data structures might be managed at the user level. Because an MTS might support multiple tenants including possible competitors, the MTS should have security protocols that keep data, applications, and application use separate. Also, because many tenants may opt for access to an MTS rather than maintain their own system, redundancy, up-time, and backup are additional functions that may be implemented in the MTS. In addition to user-specific data and tenant specific data, system 616 might also maintain system level data usable by multiple tenants or other data. Such system level data might include industry reports, news, postings, and the like that are sharable among tenants.

In certain embodiments, user systems 612 (which may be client systems) communicate with application servers 700 to request and update system-level and tenant-level data from system 616 that may require sending one or more queries to tenant data storage 622 and/or system data storage 624. System 616 (e.g., an application server 700 in system 616) automatically generates one or more SQL statements (e.g., one or more SQL queries) that are designed to access the desired information. System data storage 624 may generate query plans to access the requested data from the database.

Each database can generally be viewed as a collection of objects, such as a set of logical tables, containing data fitted into predefined categories. A “table” is one representation of a data object, and may be used herein to simplify the conceptual description of objects and custom objects. It should be understood that “table” and “object” may be used interchangeably herein. Each table generally contains one or more data categories logically arranged as columns or fields in a viewable schema. Each row or record of a table contains an instance of data for each category defined by the fields. For example, a CRM database may include a table that describes a customer with fields for basic contact information such as name, address, phone number, fax number, etc. Another table might describe a purchase order, including fields for information such as customer, product, sale price, date, etc. In some multi-tenant database systems, standard entity tables might be provided for use by all tenants. For CRM database applications, such standard entities might include tables for Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity data, each containing pre-defined fields. It should be understood that the word “entity” may also be used interchangeably herein with “object” and “table”.

In some multi-tenant database systems, tenants may be allowed to create and store custom objects, or they may be allowed to customize standard entities or objects, for example by creating custom fields for standard objects, including custom index fields. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,161, filed Apr. 2, 2004, entitled “Custom Entities and Fields in a Multi-Tenant Database System”, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, teaches systems and methods for creating custom objects as well as customizing standard objects in a multi-tenant database system. In certain embodiments, for example, all custom entity data rows are stored in a single multi-tenant physical table, which may contain multiple logical tables per organization. It is transparent to customers that their multiple “tables” are in fact stored in one large table or that their data may be stored in the same table as the data of other customers.

While one or more implementations have been described by way of example and in terms of the specific embodiments, it is to be understood that one or more implementations are not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. 

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A database system-implemented method comprising: detecting, by and incorporating into the database system, an attempt by a user to manipulate a data file; and facilitating, via the database system, real-time collaboration via a collaboration application at the database system, wherein facilitating includes determining control privileges including one or more user control levels associated with users and one or more file control levels associated with data files, wherein the one or more file control levels are dynamically modified, in runtime, corresponding to changes in sensitivities associated with the data files, comparing a user control level associated with the user with a file control level associated with the data file, wherein comparing includes determining whether the user control level is higher or lower than the file control level, and blocking the attempt, if the user control level is lower than the file control level.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the user control level is assigned to the user based on a user profile associated with the user, wherein the user profile is generated by an organization associated with the user, and wherein the organization is further to update the user profile upon detecting a change in the user's position with the organization.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file based on a sensitivity level relating to contents of the data file, wherein the sensitivity level includes a legal sensitivity level.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the sensitivity level is lowered or raised based on one or more of occurring of a relevant event and as determined by the organization, wherein the lowering or the raising of the sensitivity level correspondingly raises or lowers the file control level associated with the data file, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file by the organization.
 23. The method of claim 19, further comprising granting the attempt, if the user control level is higher than the file control level.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising denying the attempt, if the file control level is dynamically raised, in runtime, to be higher than the user control level based on a change in the sensitivity level, wherein the sensitivity level is raised.
 25. The method of claim 19, further comprising displaying an error message, via the collaboration application, notifying one or more of the blocking of the attempt, the granting of the attempt, and the denying of the attempt.
 26. The method of claim 19, wherein the collaboration application comprises a social network websites or a business networking website, and wherein the content of the data file is displayed via a page of the collaboration application for viewing by public or a group, wherein the group includes one or more of business associates, department employees, project team members, and organization members.
 27. A system comprising a processing device and a storage device having instructions, wherein the processing device executes the instructions to perform one or more operations comprising: detecting, by and incorporating into the database system, an attempt by a user to manipulate a data file; and facilitating, via the database system, real-time collaboration via a collaboration application at the database system, wherein facilitating includes determining control privileges including one or more user control levels associated with users and one or more file control levels associated with data files, wherein the one or more file control levels are dynamically modified, in runtime, corresponding to changes in sensitivities associated with the data files, comparing a user control level associated with the user with a file control level associated with the data file, wherein comparing includes determining whether the user control level is higher or lower than the file control level, and blocking the attempt, if the user control level is lower than the file control level.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein the user control level is assigned to the user based on a user profile associated with the user, wherein the user profile is generated by an organization associated with the user, and wherein the organization is further to update the user profile upon detecting a change in the user's position with the organization.
 29. The system of claim 27, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file based on a sensitivity level relating to contents of the data file, wherein the sensitivity level includes a legal sensitivity level.
 30. The system of claim 29, wherein the sensitivity level is lowered or raised based on one or more of occurring of a relevant event and as determined by the organization, wherein the lowering or the raising of the sensitivity level correspondingly raises or lowers the file control level associated with the data file, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file by the organization.
 31. The system of claim 27, wherein the one or more operations further comprise granting the attempt, if the user control level is higher than the file control level.
 32. The system of claim 31, wherein the one or more operations further comprise denying the attempt, if the file control level is dynamically raised, in runtime, to be higher than the user control level based on a change in the sensitivity level, wherein the sensitivity level is raised.
 33. The system of claim 27, wherein the one or more operations further comprise displaying an error message, via the collaboration application, notifying one or more of the blocking of the attempt, the granting of the attempt, and the denying of the attempt.
 34. The system of claim 27, wherein the collaboration application comprises a social network websites or a business networking website, and wherein the content of the data file is displayed via a page of the collaboration application for viewing by public or a group, wherein the group includes one or more of business associates, department employees, project team members, and organization members.
 35. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform one or more operations comprising: detecting, by and incorporating into the database system, an attempt by a user to manipulate a data file; and facilitating, via the database system, real-time collaboration via a collaboration application at the database system, wherein facilitating includes determining control privileges including one or more user control levels associated with users and one or more file control levels associated with data files, wherein the one or more file control levels are dynamically modified, in runtime, corresponding to changes in sensitivities associated with the data files, comparing a user control level associated with the user with a file control level associated with the data file, wherein comparing includes determining whether the user control level is higher or lower than the file control level, and blocking the attempt, if the user control level is lower than the file control level.
 36. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the user control level is assigned to the user based on a user profile associated with the user, wherein the user profile is generated by an organization associated with the user, and wherein the organization is further to update the user profile upon detecting a change in the user's position with the organization.
 37. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file based on a sensitivity level relating to contents of the data file, wherein the sensitivity level includes a legal sensitivity level.
 38. The machine-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the sensitivity level is lowered or raised based on one or more of occurring of a relevant event and as determined by the organization, wherein the lowering or the raising of the sensitivity level correspondingly raises or lowers the file control level associated with the data file, wherein the file control level is assigned to the data file by the organization.
 39. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the one or more operations further comprise granting the attempt, if the user control level is higher than the file control level.
 40. The machine-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the one or more operations further comprise denying the attempt, if the file control level is dynamically raised, in runtime, to be higher than the user control level based on a change in the sensitivity level, wherein the sensitivity level is raised.
 41. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the one or more operations further comprise displaying an error message, via the collaboration application, notifying one or more of the blocking of the attempt, the granting of the attempt, and the denying of the attempt.
 42. The machine-readable medium of claim 35, wherein the collaboration application comprises a social network websites or a business networking website, and wherein the content of the data file is displayed via a page of the collaboration application for viewing by public or a group, wherein the group includes one or more of business associates, department employees, project team members, and organization members. 